1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the treatment of pain and more particularly to a method for using potassium nitrate to reduce pain associated with dental and oral procedures.
2. Background and Summary of the Invention
The inventor of the present invention has done extensive research into the cause of pain, particularly in the area of oral and dental surgery. In this research, it has been discovered that potassium is effective for desensitizing hypersensitive teeth (U.S. Pat. No. 3,863,006), for treating canker sores (U.S. Pat. No. 4,191,750), for preserving dental pulp (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,343,608 and 4,407,675) for treating gingival and periodontal tissues (U.S. Pat. No. 4,400373), for treating post-restoration dental pain (U.S. Pat. No. 5,153,006 and for anesthetizing teeth (U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,726), all of which patents are incorporated herein by reference.
Accordingly, the present invention is a result of the continued research of the inventor, which research has determined that potassium nitrate, in combination with other compounds, can be used for the reduction of pain associated with a variety of procedures and conditions. Accordingly, the present invention includes the combination of potassium nitrate and dimethyl isosorbide, for the treatment of ulcerative lesions of the skin and mucous membranes, for improved tooth desensitization of hypersensitive teeth, the use of potassium nitrate, EGTA, citric acid, and EDTA, wherein the EDTA, EGTA, citric acid, etc. removes the smear layer from the teeth first to allow the potassium nitrate next to better penetrate to the nerves of the tooth, as set forth in the '726 patent, and the combination of potassium nitrate and various potent topical anesthetics to simultaneously anesthetize the a tooth and the surrounding gum tissue to provide pain-free periodontal and hygienist scaling and maintenance visits. This same combination of substances can be applied locally for effective post-operative and restorative pain control, post-periodontal and other post-surgery comfort while healing is taking place. This diminishes the need to use ingested and/or injected analgesics or narcotics for pain control.
According to a first embodiment of the invention, a method of anesthetizing a tooth requiring tooth preparation, caries removal or manual manipulation thereof is disclosed. The method comprises the step of applying a composition having a high concentration of potassium to the tooth requiring tooth preparation, caries removal or manual manipulation, the composition being adapted to anesthetize the tooth so that the tooth may be drilled or manually manipulated, whereby the potassium enters the dentinal tubules and odontoblastic fibrils and penetrates the pulpal tissues of the tooth for anesthetizing the tooth. The improvement consists essentially of applying a solution of EDTA, EGTA, and citric acid to the tooth before the application of the potassium composition, the solution of EDTA. EGTA, and citric acid effectively and safely removing a smear layer from the tooth so as to facilitate the penetration of the potassium solution through the dentinal tubules and odontoblastic fibrils.
According to another embodiment of the invention, a method of anesthetizing a tooth requiring tooth preparation, caries removal or manual manipulation thereof is disclosed. The method comprises the step of applying a composition having a high concentration of potassium to the tooth requiring tooth preparation, caries removal or manual manipulation, the composition being adapted to anesthetize the tooth so that the tooth may be drilled or manually manipulated, whereby the potassium enters the dentinal tubules and odontoblastic fibrils and penetrates the pulpal tissues of the tooth for anesthetizing the tooth. The improvement consists essentially of including a topical anesthetic in the potassium solution to enable the solution to anesthetize the tooth and the gingivae and other soft tissues surrounding the tooth.
According to yet another embodiment of the invention, a method of anesthetizing a tooth requiring tooth preparation, caries removal or manual manipulation thereof is disclosed. The method comprises the step of applying a composition having a high concentration of potassium to the tooth requiring tooth preparation, caries removal or manual manipulation, the composition being adapted to anesthetize the tooth so that the tooth may be drilled or manually manipulated, whereby the potassium enters the dentinal tubules and odontoblastic fibrils and penetrates the pulpal tissues of the tooth for anesthetizing the tooth. The improvement consists essentially of including a concentration of dimethyl isosorbide in the potassium solution, whereby the concentration of dimethyl isosorbide acts to increase the ability of the potassium to penetrate in increased amounts through the dentinal tubules and odontoblastic fibrils and to better penetrate the pulpal tissues of the tooth for anesthetizing the tooth.
By employing an enhancer, such as Dimethyl Isosorbide or phospholipids, we are able to improve the desensitizing of hypersensitive teeth, since Dimethyl Isosorbide enhances the penetration of potassium ions (whatever the source of potassium-refer to U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,726) through the tooth and dentinal tubules into the pulpal tissues. The effect is to provide faster, more complete, longer lasting (duration) desensitization. Another application is to use potent topical anesthetics in combination with high concentration potassium compounds (e.g., potassium nitrate, potassium citrate, potassium chloride-refer to U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,726) for providing pain-free comfort during periodontal and/or hygienist scaling, maintenance, and other manipulative procedures. We use saturated KNO.sub.3, 20 percent benzocaine, 10 percent tetracaine for controlling both tooth and gingival pain. It controls pain with such hygienic procedures, periodontal treatments, papillectomy. Since the gingival and other soft oral tissues do not have dentinal tubules, the soft tissue anesthesia is accomplished by potent topical anesthetics. Some are benadryl, lidocaine, tetracaine, benzocaine, cetracaine, etc.
According to yet another embodiment of the invention, a method for reducing pain and shortening the healing period of in aphthous ulcers is disclosed. The method includes the step of applying a solution of potassium (2 percent-35 percent) and dimethyl isosorbide to the site of the ulcer, whereby the solution acts on nerve endings within the ulcer to reduce inflammation and prevent the induction of pain within the ulcer while promoting faster healing of the ulcer. Dimethyl isosorbide enhances the effect of the potassium ion by aiding its penetration into the affected tissue. Any source of potassium can be utilized for this purpose. Examples are KNO.sub.3, KCl, KCO.sub.3, KPO.sub.4, etc. (refer to issued U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,726). This is an improvement over the use of potassium nitrate to treat canker sores (U.S. Pat. No. 4,191,750).